Northwest woes – The Capitals hope for more success against the Northwest Division of the Western Conference when they welcome the Wild to Verizon Center . Last year, the Caps had a 1-4-0 record against Northwest teams, the lowest winning percentage the Caps had against any NHL division. The Caps can take stock in the fact that the Wild have not won at Verizon Center since Nov. 21, 2002, and the home team has won seven out of nine games in the all-time series.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

View from the top – Washington stands in first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time this late in a season since April 7, 2000. The Capitals have the fewest regulation losses in the NHL (3) and are just three points behind San Jose (in two fewer games) for the NHL lead.

FIVE MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT

Spread the wealth –In the four games that Alex Ovechkin has missed due to injury, 10 Capitals have scored goals. Washington is 3-1-0 in those games, improving to 4-4-0 in Ovechkin’s career when he is out of the lineup.

Jumpin’ Jack Flash –Tomas Fleischmann’s six goals in seven games since he returned to the lineup after recovering from a blood clot in his leg give him the third-best goals per game average in the NHL (0.86), trailing only Ilya Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin. Fleischmann is nearly one-third of the way to his 19-goal total last season. Fleischmann has points in six straight games, his longest career point streak.

Goal oriented –The Capitals have scored 3.78 goals per game on the year, more than any other team (entering Thursday’s games). Washington ranks tied for first in third-period goals (24) and second in first-period goals (22).

Starting something – Washington has scored first in 15 of 18 games this year, including each of the last seven. The Capitals have outscored their opponents 22-9 in the first period and have scored at least one goal in the first period of 15 of their 18 games. Only Calgary (23) has scored more first-period goals and only Philadelphia (5) and Phoenix (8) have allowed fewer.

Nice comeback – Washington has trailed in nine games this year and has earned a point in two-thirds of them (4-3-2). The Capitals are 2-0-1 when their opponent scores first.

“If you grow up in metro Washington, you grow up a diehard Redskins fan. But if you hate your parents, you grow up a Cowboys fan.”-Jim Lachey